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A Tongue-Tracking Artificial Larynx
It could soon be possible for individuals whom have lost th power of speech to regain this function with the aid of a digital device which tracks movements and contact between the tongue and the palate. South African researchers are currently working on the artificial larynx which wont have the raspy or robotic sound of currently used devices. The artificial Larynx which can detect words that are being said via movements in the mouth will rely upon a sound synthesizer to generate the sound which should be emmited from the mouth.
The Palatometer which is fitted into the mouth works on the principal that the speaker will mouth the words then the movements will be synthesized into real speech paterns. Though the development is far from finished, or from being able to recognising a whole language (the researchers have currently reached a fifty word vocabulary recognition model) the scientists do say that the future for people who have lost their speech ability could look a whole lot brighter and the results given by the palatometer could be a whole lot more natural than those of devices available today.